


Steam

by bexcj



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Showers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 20:48:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4891738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bexcj/pseuds/bexcj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron's too tired to take a shower after a long day of work, so Robert gives him a helping hand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steam

Aaron's half asleep by the time he gets his key into the door. He stumbles through the entrance and kicks his shoes off by the stairs, even though he knows he'll probably get shouted at for it later. He can't bring himself to care, though, because he's so exhausted after work his only thoughts are of his duvet, pillows and mattress. He can smell food from the kitchen but the thought of eating makes him ill. He's far too tired to eat. He wanders into the room anyway, the corners of his mouth turning up automatically when he sees Robert in his apron by the stove. The older man turns to him and gives him a confused look.

"What've you been up to?" Robert asks, half-laughing as he asks the question.

Aaron raises an eyebrow. "Working. What does it look like?" 

"It looks like you've gone for a mud bath. Go on, look in the mirror," Robert points to the nearby mirror on the wall and Aaron walks up to it to inspect himself. Turns out he's filthy, head to toe in dirt and grime from the scrap he'd been moving earlier. He tries to scrub it off with the palm of his hand but it's no use, and it tires him out so he sits down instead.

"You can shower before bed because I'm not getting that all over me." Robert laughs again, plating up their food and placing it in front of Aaron, who whines into his arms like a small child having a tantrum.

"What's up, grumpy?" The older man asks in a teasing tone, sitting down himself.

Aaron mumbles. "Too tired to eat." 

"fine, go have your shower and I'll meet you upstairs in a bit." Aaron huffs in response, causing Robert to throw his cutlery down. 

"Seriously, I can't have you being like this. Just tell me what the matter is!" Robert insists, his voice raised and his hand flat on the table. He's staring at Aaron, who looks like he's about to cry. He feels like he is, too. All he wants is to go to sleep. He doesn't need a shouting match, not tonight.

He stirs up all the energy he can muster to shout back, though. "I'm just tired, alright? I've been working all day and I'm knackered so I'm not in the mood for your poxy dinner or poxy questons!" He gets up and storms upstairs, leaving Robert at the table by himself.

Aaron sits upstairs in silence for a while. The temptation to lie down and fall asleep is almost too great, but he knows he's been out of line and he'd be going too far if he got dirt all over the bed. Robert's more cautious of housekeeping than Aaron assumed he would be before they got together properly, whereas he's always been messy and so they clash a lot about that. It's weird, living with Robert and loving Robert freely. That was tiring enough as it is, trying to get everyone to accept it after everything they'd been through. He still gets occasional comments but it doesn't bother him anymore. It just took getting used to, similar to after he'd come out. At the end of the day it's worth it for what he's got, and he's reminded of that when Robert arrives at the bedroom door looking remorseful.

"Come on." He says quietly, gesturing towards the bathroom. Aaron squints his eyes shut and shakes his head in response.

"I'll wash you myself if I have to. Come on," He repeats more assertively. Aaron's too tired to argue, which shows the extent of just how exhausted he actually is. He knows the sooner he washes, the sooner he'll be able to sleep, and that's what gets him up. Maybe it's also the idea of washing with Robert. It's certainly not the worst idea the man's had in a while.

They walk into the bathroom and Robert undresses himself quickly. Aaron goes to unzip his jacket but he's interrupted by a yawn, and so Robert walks over and does it for him. Slowly and sensually the jacket comes off, along with Aaron's dark grey t-shirt underneath, revealing his chest and scars.

It had taken a while for Aaron to take his shirt off with Robert when they first got it back on, mostly because of the what the older man had said about them at the scrapyard the day before he was shot. Aaron had grown self-conscious about it, but after a lot of grovelling on Rob's part, he managed to embrace his scars again. To show his sorrow, Robert always makes an effort to appreciate the scars on Aaron's body when they're exposed.

He traces each individual scar with his forefinger as gently as possible. It gives Aaron tingles as he watches and feels it. Robert slowly moves up to the others, and when he's finished he moves his hands back down to Aaron's jeans. He undoes the button and zip and pulls them down gently, taking the man's boxers with him. Aaron lifts each of his feet up and kicks the jeans away to the corner of the room so they won't get in the way. Robert stands back up and cups Aaron's cheek, leaning in and kissing him softly.

"Is that the first time you've ever seen me naked and not had any ideas?" Aaron says, smirking.

Robert bites his lip whilst eyeing Aaron's body up and down. "Of course I'm having ideas," He says, his voice low. "But I can't have you falling asleep halfway through, can I?" 

He turns the shower on and adjusts the heating until steam begins to rise up to the ceiling of the bathroom. Aaron loves really hot showers, so hot it almost burns him. Robert likes colder showers, which is odd, but Aaron doesn't question it too much because when they shower together it's always how he likes it. Robert also runs the bath taps, and the bath begins to fill up to a reasonable depth. 

Aaron gets in first. The hot liquid hits his skin and he almost falls asleep right there, so Robert gets in quickly and stands behind him, kissing the top of his back to keep him awake. 

He leans down and picks up the shower gel. It's coconut scented, and the smell fills the room as soon as it hits Rob's fingers from the bottle. He rubs his hands together until he receives the foamy texture, and then he begins to smother it on Aaron's body slowly. 

He washes his back first, moving his hands and fingers in small circular motions. It's like a massage as well as a shower and Aaron can feel himself slipping away from being too relaxed, so Robert has to move on more swiftly than he'd have liked. He bends down and moves his hands across Aaron's ass. He's deliberately extra slow with this one, not that Aaron's complaining one bit. 

"Turn around." Robert whispers when he's finished. Aaron obeys, and is greeted with a few small kisses on the lips and neck before the older man carries on. He squirts a second load of coconut onto his hands and begins to wash Aaron's chest, scrubbing the dirt off. Aaron doesn't even know how he got this dirty considering he had a couple of layers of clothes on, but there was a lot of scrap to move so it isn't all that surprising when he thinks about it.

Robert runs his hands over Aaron's nipples a couple of times, causing the younger man to shiver, goosebumps forming along his forearms. Robert giggles and moves down to Aaron's stomach, re-tracing the scars again before moving further down.

An involuntary moan slips out of Aaron's mouth. "What's that for? I haven't even touched you there." Robert says, amused.

"Wish you would." Aaron mutters in reply, fluttering his eyes open a tad.

"Nice try," Robert says. "But you're too tired, remember?" Aaron pouts mockingly before closing his eyes again and letting Robert wash his legs. When he's finished, Rob moves past Aaron so he can push him into the stream of water. As the shower gel washes away, Robert leans in and presses his lips to Aaron's, his hands snaking around the younger man's waist and pulling him closer as the kiss grows deeper. Aaron pulls away before it gets too heated, though. "Am I still too tired?" The question's pretty unconvincing, because his voice is hoarse as he says it and it sounds like he hasn't slept in a week. Robert just nods and pecks him again. 

"We're not done," he informs Aaron before sitting him down in the bath. "Still got your hair to do. Sorry." Aaron shrugs to let him know it's okay, so Robert grabs the shampoo and conditioner before sitting himself down behind him, pulling the man's back to his chest. He pours the shampoo, also coconut scented, onto his hands and then runs them through Aaron's hair.

It's the most relaxing feeling in the world and Aaron's pretty sure he falls in and out of consciousness whilst Robert's doing it. The feeling of his long fingers running through his hair and along his scalp is too pleasurable to ignore, and he has to grip Robert's thighs to keep himself from slipping down in the bath. 

Robert scratches a little at Aaron's head, too. He knows he shouldn't, because that's what he does sometimes in order to get the younger man to sleep after he's had a nightmare, and it works every time. It's his favourite thing, and Robert gets confirmation of this when Aaron lets out little sighs each time he does it. 

Robert leans up and grabs the shower head, holding it above Aaron's head and watching as the shampoo falls away into the water beneath them. He plays with his hair again to make sure he's got it all out, and then he does the same thing with the conditioner, washing it through and running his hands back through to be certain it's all gone. He wishes Aaron would do it to him because it seems so enjoyable, but today's an exception and he can always return the favour another time.

"All done." He whispers, turning the shower off. Aaron doesn't reply, so Robert leans forward to look at him and it turns out he's fallen asleep sitting up. Robert bites his lip to stifle his laughter. That's adorable, he thinks. He doesn't want to wake him but he knows he has to because he can't carry him, so he pulls him up with all the strength he has, and Aaron thankfully co-operates enough to get himself to the bedroom and sitting on the bed. Robert wraps a large towel around his own body before placing one over Aaron's, and then he kneels on the bed behind him with a smaller, identical towel. He holds it with both hands and presses it to Aaron's hair before shaking it roughly to dry it a bit. He's worried it'll wake the younger man up, but he doesn't get phased by it, and so Robert continues until his hair isn't dripping anymore, and then he pushes Aaron back so his head hits the soft pillow.

"Thanks, Robert." He manages to murmur before he slips away into a deep slumber. Robert just smiles, sliding into the bed next to him and falling to sleep almost immediately himself. He's still dripping wet, but he'll let the bed suffer. Just this once.

**Author's Note:**

> based on this post http://flawswelove.tumblr.com/post/130014880714/i-really-want-someone-to-write-a-fic-where-aaron - i really couldn't resist hahahaha. enjoy!


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